8/3/2019 Lang Div HO Strengths & Weakness 2011
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Measures of linguistic diversity
Strengths Weaknesses
Numbersoflanguages
This index is especially useful when looking
at the geography of languages and their
geographical distribution and density.
You can calculate density based on total
population and total area (e.g., PNG 1/5,000;
world 1/850,000; parts of PNG 1/30 sq km).
If you have the number of speakers for each
language, can determine the distributions of
large and small languages. If you also have
information about specific location of
languages, can identify regions of high
language density and low language density.
Numbers of languages gives no idea of
different types of languages (i.e., the range
of structures) or the historical relationshipamong the languages
(i.e., their genetic or
family relationships, if any)its only
number of different languages.
[Definition for different languages:mutually unintelligible,
that is, speakers of
language A cannot understand speakers of
language B, and speakers of language B
cannot understand speakers of language A.]
Typesoflanguages
This index shows the range of structural
possibilities of languages. It reveals thediversity of ways of
seeing and classifying
the worlddiversity of world views.
Having a catalogue of Types suggests
possible relationships between language
and adaptation to social, cultural, or
environmental circumstances.
Catalogues of Types reveals what solutionsthe human mind has
invented that are
popular (common across languages) and
solutions that are rare. Such information
may suggest constraints on the psychology
(the mind/brain) of language.
Typological similarity among languages
does not guarantee genetic relationship:similar types of
languages do not necessarily
belong to the same language family. There
may be no historical connection at all
between similar types of languages; indeed,
usually there is not. Also, a catalogue of
language Types does not reveal how
languages change from one type to another
over time (i.e., their historical background,
changes over time). It shows languages as
they are structurally today.
But! Having a catalogue of Types can suggest
genetic relationships among a group of
languages occupying the same region!
Examples: many Turkic languages are SOV;
many Thai languages are tonal.
Familiesoflanguages
This index is especially useful when you
want to determine the historical
relationships among a group of languages;
when you want to determine how languages
change over time; how, over time, a mother
language (e.g., Latin) split into daughter
languages (e.g., French, Spanish, etc.).
This index shows genetic relationships, thatis which languages
are related historically.
So this information suggests possible human
migration routes in historical time. We can
also trace how languages change (e.g., how
Old English became Modern English)
We can also determine historical dates, and
trace back Proto languages. Example: Proto-
Indo-Europeana language reconstructed
using information from all the daughter
languages of the Indo-European family:
German, Russian, Hindi, Persian, Urdu, etc.
The general weakness of this diversity type
is that languages do not only descend from
parent languages (vertical transmission of
language vocabulary, structures, etc.), but
also borrow from other languages
(horizontal transmission). In other words,
the family tree model does not apply to alllanguage groups.
Examples: the family tree
model does not work well among Australianand Amazonian
languagesso much
borrowing (vocabulary, structures) over
time has made genetic relationships very
difficult to uncover.
[However, the family tree model works very
well with some groups: e.g., Indo-European,
Austronesian, Niger-Congo, Afro-Asiatic, etc.
These are true language families.]
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